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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24793234">Confronting My Pink Demons</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Digigal_transbian/pseuds/Digigal_transbian'>Digigal_transbian</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Steven Universe (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Good Father Greg Universe, Mentioned Rose Quartz (Steven Universe), Rose's Room, Steven Universe Gets Therapy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:40:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,903</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24793234</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Digigal_transbian/pseuds/Digigal_transbian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Steven goes to his room to deal with his mom.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Greg Universe &amp; Steven Universe, Pink Diamond &amp; Steven Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Confronting My Pink Demons</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Therapy was tiring.</p><p> </p><p>Despite how exhausted it made him, Steven kept at it.</p><p> </p><p>The gems, his dad, and Connie all encouraged him to keep it up, no matter how rough it could get.</p><p> </p><p>All things considered, it was going well. His therapist, Dr. Callison, who insisted to be just called Zach, had really been helping him with some of his issues, helping him make peace with some of his trauma. Connie's mom helped get Zach caught up with enough Gem stuff to be able to understand any talk about them.</p><p> </p><p>There were only two topics he had to change the subject from, Jasper and his mom.</p><p> </p><p>Steven looks at the temple door, directly at his mom's gem lock. He knew he'd have to confront his feelings about his mom eventually, and even Zach agrees. Despite barely knowing anything about her, his therapist has mentioned that some things may never be comfortable to confront, so it could be best to just bite the bullet and go for it.</p><p> </p><p>He shoves his hands in his pockets and gets up from his seat on the couch. Slowly, he trudges his way over to the magic temple door, stopping just in front of the warp pad. Zach mentioned being objective when he needed to get through something difficult like this, focus on the facts of the situation first before making any judgements if possible.</p><p> </p><p>He pulls his phone out of his pocket and sends a text off to his dad, asking him to come over with a camera and tripod. His dad shoots back a quick "sure" and fifteen minutes later his dad comes up the steps to the beach house. Steven turns around and starts walking towards his father.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey Schtuball!" Greg calls from the other side of the house, "I brought the camera gear."</p><p> </p><p>"Thanks, dad." Steven smiles.</p><p> </p><p>"What'd you need this old stuff for anyways?" Greg asks.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm going to head into my temple room and tribute confront my feelings about mom. I'm so tired of being unable to even think about her without getting all tense like I have been. I want to record it so I can show Zach everything before we actually talk about it all."</p><p> </p><p>"You want me in there with you, son?"</p><p> </p><p>Steven pauses and looks at his hands.</p><p> </p><p>"Please." Steven requests, really hoping that he doesn't sound too desperate in his tone.</p><p> </p><p>"Alright little buddy, I'll be right there with you the whole time."</p><p> </p><p>Steven's gem glows in sync with the lock on the temple door before it opens wide. The inside of the room is just as empty as it always is. Greg takes a minute to gawk at the room before he steps off into the corner, or at least what he thinks is the corner, before he starts to set up the camera.</p><p> </p><p>When Greg finishes setting up the camera in the corner of the room, he gives a thumbs up and walks back towards his son.</p><p> </p><p>"Room, show me my mom." Steven says, bracing himself for what he's about to do.</p><p> </p><p>The apparition of Rose Quartz appears, standing in front of him, eyeing him expectantly.</p><p> </p><p>"I meant Pink Diamond, if I'm going to deal with this, I might as well deal with Her as who she really was."</p><p> </p><p>Rose frowns as her body glows, growing taller as her gem shifts itself to its true position, culet pointed up. Outside of dreams, he's never seen her before. He takes a good look at the matriarch, absentmindedly moving a hand from his pocket and gently touching his gem.</p><p> </p><p>She's tall, he guesses about twelve feet tall. In the back of his mind he wonders if his gem half is going to make him grow that tall eventually. Her hair is large and curly, blooming in five distinct poofs. Her diamond shaped pupils stare into him blankly, mirroring his current feelings about her.</p><p> </p><p>"This is her?" Greg asks, looking at the Gem his girlfriend used to be.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, this is Pink Diamond." Steven replies with a nod.</p><p> </p><p>He takes a good look at her outfit, the same one he wore for a time on Homeworld. Her shoulder pads are large and soft looking, the same can be said about her shorts. A half skirt drapes around her waist just below her gem, stopping before her shorts do. Her legs are covered with white stockings and her pink shoes have those magic floating puffs to them.</p><p> </p><p>She looks absolutely nothing like the other Diamonds.</p><p> </p><p>Steven pauses, his room responding to the unspoken desires and conjuring apparitions of White, Yellow, and Blue behind Pink, standing in the traditional Diamond order. Greg pulls the camera as far back as he can to fit the four of them all in frame. Standing with the other three, Pink looks painfully out of place. They tower over her, looking like they rule the universe just by existing.</p><p> </p><p>In a single thought, the apparitions of White, Yellow, and Blue shrink down to Pink's size and stand lined up beside her, but Pink still looks like the odd one out. She looks distinctly softer, more playful, more youthful than the other Diamonds. Compared to the others, she looks more friendly than regal. She looks more like…</p><p> </p><p>Another apparition appears with a squeak, standing as blankly as the rest of them.</p><p> </p><p>Spinel's original form.</p><p> </p><p>Playful attitude, obnoxiously stubborn, curly hair, puffy shoulders and pants, white leggings, pink shoes, dramatic moods.</p><p> </p><p>A cloud couch appears for Steven to fall into as he processes the new information. His dad places a comforting hand on his shoulder as he sits next to him.</p><p> </p><p>"Spinel is what the Diamonds thought of Pink." Steven breathes out with a sigh.</p><p> </p><p>No wonder they took her in so quickly, not just because she reminded them of Pink, but because she was made to be like Pink.</p><p> </p><p>Unseen to Steven, Greg slips out his phone and takes a picture of the smaller Diamonds for later reference.</p><p> </p><p>"Alright Steven, timeline of events, you can do this." Steven mumbles to himself under his breath, "Mom formed into the Diamond Authority and eventually wanted a colony during the time of her first Pearl."</p><p> </p><p>Pink Pearl appears from the clouds and stands next to Pink, smiling up at her like a good friend.</p><p> </p><p>"Yellow and Blue said no, so mom went to White, who also said no. This set mom off and her screams damaged Pink Pearl permanently."</p><p> </p><p>Pink Pearl's left eye shatters and is replaced by a series of cracks.</p><p> </p><p>"Not long later, White Diamond took over Pink Pearl."</p><p> </p><p>The figure of White Diamond shoots a blast of light from her eyes directly at the damaged Pearl's gem, washing out all of her colors and snapping her into the position she was in when he first met White.</p><p> </p><p>"Presumably after a punishment period, the other Diamonds gave Pink a new Pearl to keep her on the right Diamond path, as well as Spinel to keep her entertained."</p><p> </p><p>The Pearl he knows appears in the form she took before the Gem War, standing stiff next to Pink. On his mom's other side, Spinel bounces in and clings to her arm.</p><p> </p><p>"The Diamonds never treated mom right, but eventually they caved to her will and gave Pink the Earth."</p><p> </p><p>A scale model of the Earth and Moon appear. Pink and Spinel bounce over to it, Pearl following gracefully behind her.</p><p> </p><p>"Sometime during the next two thousand years, Pink eventually abandons Spinel in her garden before turning her focus entirely to Earth."</p><p> </p><p>The apparition of Spinel is overtaken and choked by vines, poofing as her gem flies off to the side. Pink's face looks distinctly more solemn than it has so far.</p><p> </p><p>"With Spinel gone, Pink could focus on her colony, but she found it dull and boring. Pearl suggested she go to Earth incognita if she wanted to explore the sights."</p><p> </p><p>The apparition of Pink Diamond rotated her gem and shrunk down to roughly the size of an average eight foot tall Rose Quartz.</p><p> </p><p>"Pink took her advice and saw the beauty of Earth, taking notice of how her colonization was harming the planet."</p><p> </p><p>The scene around Rose shifts to the edge of the Prime Kindergarten. The ground inside the gem producing area is a deep purple with decay, while the rest of the world around her is a lush green, flowers in a rainbow of colors around her.</p><p> </p><p>"As Pink, she tried to get the Diamonds to listen. They didn't."</p><p> </p><p>Rose shifts back into Pink. The apparitions of Yellow and Blue Diamonds appear in front of her, their backs turned to the Pink gems, White nowhere to be seen. Pink looks dejected down at her feet.</p><p> </p><p>"Because of the Diamonds' refusal to treat her like a Diamond, she decided to make them listen by starting an uprising as Rose Quartz, with the terrifying Renegade Pearl."</p><p> </p><p>Pink shifts back to Rose and Pearl transforms to the form she had when he had to "get her phone from her gem" when he was fourteen. The duo poof gems left and right, Bismuth joins in at some point during the dust cloud.</p><p> </p><p>"At some point during the war, Blue Diamond arrived on Earth to receive the council of a Sapphire at the Sky Arena. That was the day Garnet formed for the first time, when Rose and Pearl attacked Sapphire."</p><p> </p><p>Blue Diamond in her palanquin appears in front of a Sapphire and three Rubies. Rose and Pearl swoop in and start poofing various quarters, as well as two of the Rubies. The remaining Ruby fuses by accident with the Sapphire and the two jump off the side into the woods.</p><p> </p><p>"When Rose found Garnet, she immediately loved the fusion, changing the goal of her war from the freedom of Earth to the freedom of Gems. No Diamond before Pink has ever shown positivity to fusions like Garnet, outright banning the act outside of combat."</p><p> </p><p>The figures of Rose and Pearl stumble across Garnet in the woods, hugging and accepting the fusion for who she is. Rose brings Garnet back to the Crystal Gems and good times are had all around.</p><p> </p><p>"Later in the war, Bismuth makes the Breaking Point. When she goes to show Rose the weapon at her Forge, they fight over if shattering the Homeworld Gems is right. Bismuth loses and is bubbled away for thousands of years."</p><p> </p><p>The room shifts to look like Bismuth's forge, Rose baring her sword against the rainbow haired Gem. With tears flowing down her cheeks, she runs her sword through Bismuth's gut, poofing her instantly. Rose bubbles Bismuth and hides her away, telling the Crystal Gems that she lost track of her at the battle for the Ziggurat.</p><p> </p><p>"After dealing with Yellow and Blue for long enough, Pink decides that the only way to free the Earth is to fake her shattering."</p><p> </p><p>The room shifts to show the inside of Pink Diamond's palanquin, situated in South Korea. Pink places Pearl's hands in front of her mouth, telling her that no one can know, before stepping just outside and grabbing a fistful of dirt. She crushes the dirt into long pink shards and swallows them. After she steps outside for the final time, Pearl shapeshifts into Rose and draws her sword. Pink Diamond poofs, leaving behind the fake shards while Rose runs away with Pink's gem.</p><p> </p><p>"It doesn't work like she intended."</p><p> </p><p>The Diamonds stand on a white platform, hands outstretched towards the Earth, glowing with their respective auras. Blue has furious tears pouring down her face, Yellow has an infuriated sneer adorning her features, while White wears a knowing and somewhat maniacal grin, as if she knows what Pink really did. Their auras blast towards the Earth, corrupting every gem on the planet's surface before they leave for Homeworld once again.</p><p> </p><p>"Five hundred years later, Amethyst pops out of the ground in the Prime Kindergarten. Over the course of the next several thousand years, she stays with Rose, fighting off corrupted gems like it's just a normal thing. She never learns about Bismuth until around five thousand four hundred years after she joins mom."</p><p> </p><p>A small Amethyst emerges from a wall in the Kindergarten and joins the remaining Crystal Gems in fighting off a few corrupted Quartzes.</p><p> </p><p>"Mom eventually settles down in Beach City, building the Obsidian Temple and fencing off that part of the beach from the locals."</p><p> </p><p>The beach as it was without the house takes shape from the clouds. The Crystal Gems look up at the statue of Obsidian, smiling at their handiwork.</p><p> </p><p>"One day, she meets a human that goes by Mr. Universe. They fall in love over time and she chooses that she wants to have a child with him, accepting that she'll have to give up her physical form so the child can be born."</p><p> </p><p>The clouds shift into a concert stage, where a young Greg performs for Rose.</p><p> </p><p>"A little over seventeen years ago, I was born."</p><p> </p><p>The clouds shape themselves into a younger Greg, holding Steven in his arms at the beach with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl sitting nearby.</p><p> </p><p>"I was born, and she left me to take care of her problems. Or did she? Did she ever intend for me to make up for her mistakes, or was that just the gems treating me like I was her?"</p><p> </p><p>The young Steven's gem is pulled out by unseen fingers and takes the form of an older Pink Steven. The pink Steven looks just like how he did back in White's head, the only differences being the height and outfit. Pink Steven and real Steven lock eyes as Greg looks on in amazement.</p><p> </p><p>"A fact: She did many bad things and handled her problems poorly. Because of that, she hurt many gems."</p><p> </p><p>The pink Steven nods as the images of countless corrupted gems appears behind him. At the front of the pack, Jasper in the cloak she was in when she arrived, a whitewashed Pink Pearl standing in salute of White Diamond, Eyeball Ruby, and Yellow and Blue Diamonds stand, eyes boring directly into the real Steven. Greg notices his son's discomfort at all the eyes on him and places a calming hand on his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>"Another fact: She was full of love. She loved Pearl, she loved Garnet, she loved my father, and she loved the Earth and all Gems. She fought for the freedom of gems on Earth and loved life and change."</p><p> </p><p>The apparitions change again, this time into the uncorrupted Gems. At the front of that pack, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and a younger Greg stand with the Earth floating gently above them.</p><p> </p><p>"Another fact: Because she hurt many gems, and because gems have a poor concept of change, her problems hurt me."</p><p> </p><p>Malachite and White Diamond form from the clouds, among other gems. The Cluster's gem sits floating above the Diamond and the fusion of hate.</p><p> </p><p>"Thought: She didn't intend for her mistakes to hurt me. They just did, whether she wanted them to or not."</p><p> </p><p>The clouds swirl and shape themselves into the Crystal Gems he grew up with, hugging a younger him.</p><p> </p><p>"But everything's changed now. All of her problems have been laid to rest, and the Diamonds are more like overly doting aunts than galactic dictators. They're a part of my family just as much as my dad and the Crystal Gems are."</p><p> </p><p>The clouds forming the Crystal Gems reshape themselves into the Diamonds, genuinely smiling down at the real him.</p><p> </p><p>"And while mom wasn't the best of people, she loved and changed and became a better person over time."</p><p> </p><p>All the apparitions in the room fade away in a breeze, leaving behind only Pink Diamond.</p><p> </p><p>"She did bad things and she did good things. She hurt and she healed. Others have hurt me worse and I've forgiven them, and I can forgive her too."</p><p> </p><p>"You know you don't have to forgive her, Schutball." Greg speaks up from the side, "You're allowed to not forgive her."</p><p> </p><p>"I know, and I choose to forgive her anyways." Steven smiles, looking up at the apparition of his mom.</p><p> </p><p>Pink Diamond looks down at her son and smiles lovingly, arms wide for a hug. Steven steps into his mom's arms as Steven's gem glows contentedly. In the deepest depths of his gem, he feels a weight so old that he never even noticed it get lifted, disappearing into nothingness.</p><p> </p><p>Greg walks over to shut the camera he set up off, he can tell that his son's resolved what he was going to resolve when he came in here. After making absolutely sure the recording was saved, he walks back over to his son and Pink and joins the little family hug.</p><p> </p><p>A few minutes later, Pink Diamond vanishes back into clouds and joins the rest of the room, leaving Steven looking lighter than he has in a long time.</p><p> </p><p>"You've done a good job, Schtuball. I know that had to have been hard for you, I'm proud of you." Greg says comfortingly.</p><p> </p><p>"It was, thanks for coming in here with me."</p><p> </p><p>"It's no problem, son." Greg smiles as he pats his boy on the arm, "Now, you're probably exhausted dealing with all that, so do you want me to order some takeout and a movie and you can just take it easy for the rest of the day?"</p><p> </p><p>Steven chuckles.</p><p> </p><p>"I'd like that."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I am not a therapist, nor have I ever seen a therapist.</p><p>If anything about what Steven's therapist said is inaccurate, I dunno what to tell ya.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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